Rachit Choksi

Director for Nominations and Congressional Oversight at the U.S. Department of Commerce

Rachit Choksi has been appointed as Director for Oversight at the Office of the Secretary in the Department of Commerce. He had previously served as Counsel to the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, where he leads investigations into civil and criminal wrongdoing in the private and public sectors. Prior to this role, he served as Oversight Counsel to the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, where he worked on oversight and investigations as well as nearly 20 nominations involving five cabinet level departments and seven independent agencies, including the EPA, GSA, NRC, FWS, White House CEQ, and FEMA.

Prior to his tenure in the Senate, Rachit served as Counsel to the Chairman at the Federal Maritime Commission, where he was the primary legal advisor to the head of an agency that enforces antitrust and consumer protection laws in the shipping industry. Before that, he was an APAICS Legislative Fellow for Rep. Judy Chu for whom he handled House Judiciary Committee matters. He also served as Research Assistant to the Hon. John J. Farmer, Jr., former Attorney General of New Jersey and Senior Counsel to the 9/11 Commission, for whom he conducted research and assisted with drafting of The Ground Truth. That book provided a timeline of the events on 9/11 and the events leading up to the “Underwear Bomber’s” failed attack. It also tracked implementation of the 9/11 Commission’s recommendations. Between 2010 and 2014, he practiced law in New Jersey and New York. Rachit is an Aspen Institute Socrates Emerging Governance Leader and a Wilson Center Foreign Policy Fellow.